Gage, Koehler bid county commissioner duties farewell

Published 10:38 am, Monday, April 25, 2016

HURON COUNTY  Wednesday was the last meeting of the year for the Huron County Board of Commissioners  and the last one ever for two commissioners in particular.

Chairman Dale Koehler and fellow County Commissioner Mike Gage sat at the boards round table for the last time, as the two are retiring.

We tried very hard to work together for the good of the people of Huron County, Gage said. We havent each had our own agenda and we looked at the county as a whole and said whats going to be better for Huron County in the end, and Im very pleased for that.

Koehler was elected to the board to represent District 1 in March of 1997, Prior to that, he served as the chief of police in Sebewaing.

District 1 includes Brookfield, Fairhaven and Sebewaing townships.

He said hell miss working with the current commissioners and other county employees, as well as answering the needs of the county, most.

Gage, who became a commissioner in 2000, shortly after retiring as Huron County Sheriff, said hes going to also miss his fellow commissioners, as well as the interaction with his constituents in District 7, which include Dwight, Hume, Lake, Lincoln, Pte. Aux Barques and Port Austin townships.

This job has been a job that  since I got into county service about 30 years ago  I tried to do my best and serve them in a manner that I hope was pleasing to the people, and they have been great people to serve and work for, he said. We have a lot of good things in this county and one of them is the people who live in the county, and its made my job a lot more enjoyable and Im going to miss that part of it.

Koehler said one of the boards accomplishments hes most proud of is the remodeling of the county jail.

The biggest issue that I worked on that felt like an accomplishment was the immunization of dogs in Huron County, he said.

The county, at the time, had a mere 1,300 dogs immunized, compared to the close to 6,000 that are immunized now.

Other things accomplished during his nearly 10 years of service that he said hes very proud of include all of the projects taken on by the Huron County Road Commission.

Our road system is second to none in the whole area that I know of, he said. Gage said one of the issues in his district hell remember most was the completion of the Bird Creek Project in Port Austin.

For many years we talked about improving Bird Creek and making it into a more viable place where we could attract more people, and during my tenure, we did get to see that done, he said.

Both Gage and Koehler said another thing theyll remember and are very proud of is the establishment of an emergency 9-1-1 system in Huron County.

It is state of the art that will compete with any 9-1-1 system in the state of Michigan, Gage said. Im very proud of that for Huron County.

The two were sent off with a round of applause following Wednesdays meeting after the other commissioners expressed their appreciation and admiration for the pairs service.

I just want to thank Dale and Mike for letting us mentor all their knowledge, said Commissioner Robert Haldane. They were excellent leaders and they truly are going to be missed.